Machine for changing the angle of the flanges of z and angle bars



(No Model.)

3 sheetssheet 1. W. E. HIGHEIELD.

MACHINE EOR CHANGING THE ANGLE 0E THE -ELANGES 0E Z AND ANGLE BARS.

Patented Mar. 19, 1889.

IIIH

IIWIH (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2..

' W. E. HIGHPIBLD.

MACHINE POR CHANGING THE ANGLE OP THE PLANGES 0F Z AND ANGLE BARS. l No. 399,896. ji/*alg* PatentedMar. 19, 1889.

N. PETERS FhulgrLmWgnpbar, Wllhngnn. D. CA

(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheen 3,.

W. E. HIGIFIBLD.

MACHINE FOR CHANGING TEE ANGLE OE rEEE FLANGES 0E Z AND ANGLE BARS.

nirrnn Starts Partnr @mina VILLIAM E. HIGHFIELD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR CHANGING THE ANGLE 0F THE 'FLANGES OF Z AND ANGLE BARS.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,896, dated March 19, 1889.

Application filed .T une l14, 1888.

.T0 all wiz/0m, it may cm2/cern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM E. HIGHFIELD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Changing the Angle of the Flanges of Z and Angle Bars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consistsof certain improvements in the machine forming the subject of my Letters Patent, No. 249,352, dated November 8, 1881, these improvements being fully set forth and specifically claimed hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the machine, partly in eievation. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the complete machine and its driving mechanism. Fig. at is a side view of part of the machine, showing some of the parts in a different position from that illustrated in Fig. 3; and Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating the object of the machine.

The machine is similar in its general construction and operation to that forming the subject of my before-mentioned Letters Patent, having two pairs of conical or beveled rolls, A A and B l5', carried by shafts a a. and b 1)', geared together by bevel-wheels c, and adapted near their outer ends to boxes d, pivoted to suitable bearings on the opposite side frames, D, of the machine, the inner ends of the shafts being adapted to boxes d, which are guided in slots d2, formed in plates secured to the inner sides of said frames D.

To Xed bearings in the lower portion of themachine is adapted a shaft, my, having cams or eccentrics n, which act upon guided yokes p, connected by rods s to the bars carrying the boxes d of the roll-shafts, so that as said shaft n is turned the rolls A A and B B may be caused to risc and fall, the pivoting of the outer boxes, d, of the roll-shafts permitting siich movement.

The present machine is driven by means of a shaft, F, adapted to suitable bearings 011 one of the side frames, D, of the machine, and provided with pulleys f for receiving a driving-belt from a pulley on any adjacent coun- Serial No. 277,057. (No model.)

ter-shaft, the shaft F having spur-pinions t, which engage with spur-wheels t', adapted to turn freely upon sleeves G, projecting from transverse bars G at the ends of the machine. Each of these spur-wheels has on its outer face two projecting fingers, nf w, those of one wheel engaging with a projecting arm, .1', carried by the outer end of the shaft a, and those of the other wheel engaging with a similar arm projecting from the shaft l), so tha-t rotary movement is imparted to said shafts without any interference with the swinging movement of the same, for the diameter of the bearing-sleeves G and of the openings in the spur-wheels t is so much greater than the diameter of the shaft that a vertical slot, ij, can be formed in each sleeve G to permittlie swinging of the shaft.

The opposite side frames, D D, of the machine have central openings, so as to expose the rolls A A B B', for permitting the feeding of the bars thereto, and the upper rolls, A B', are narrower than the lower rolls, A B, so as to permit the passage of bars of Z shape between the rolls, instead of limiting the eapacity of the machine to simple angle-bars, as before. Y

It will be observed that in the present machine the lower rolls are of sufficient width to provide a support for the central web of the bar throughout its entire width, while the upper rolls are such as not to interfere with the outer flange of the bar.

The shaft m has a worm-wheel, 7n, which en gages with a worm, t', on a vertical shaft, h; but in order that the action of the machine may be more directly under the control of the attendant than before I provide the upper end of the said shaft 7i with a hand-wheel, 7L', by turning which in one direction or the other the cam-shaft m may be actuated, so that its cams will cause the raising or lowering of the roll-shafts and rolls, t-hus causing a change in the relation of the rolls to each other, and a i corresponding change in the character of the angular pass presented by said rolls,I as shown in Figs. S and e and by the diagrams, Figs. 5 and 6.

The lianges of the bar are normally at right angles to each other, as shown in Figs.A l and TOO 5, and in starting the operation the rolls of the machine present a right-angled pass, as

Vlikewise shown in said figures.

Vhen it becomes necessary to change the angle of the flange which is being acted upon, the hand-wheel h is turned, so as to impart such movement to the cam-shaft m as to cause a depression of the inner ends of the rollshafts a a l) b', thus changing' the angular position of the acting faces of the rolls in respect to a vertical line and causing a like change in the angle of the pass formed by said rolls, as shown,'for instance, in Figs. 4; and 6. The hand-wheel 7L is operated rapidly or slowly, depending` upon whether the angle is t be changed suddenly or gradually, and the operation of the hand-wheel is continued until the change of angle is as great as desired.

In my former patented machine the eamshaft at the bottom of the machine had a worm-wheel which was operated by a worm on a vertical shaft at one side of the machine, and this vertical shaft had a cone-drum which received a belt passing around another conedrum on a vertical shaft at the en d of the machine, the latter shaft being driven by gearing from one of the roll-shafts. The objection to this plan was, mainly, the inaccuracy v in the operation of the cam-shaft which it caused, for as the power to operate the eamshaft was transmitted through the medium of the belt and cone pulleys there was always a liability of the belt to slip on the pulleys, and the operator never knew exactly whether the angle-iron was being properly beveled.

In the present machine, therefore, I secure a hand-wheel directly on the vertical shaft carrying the worm which gears into the wormwheel on the cam-shaft, so that there is a positive and definite connection between this hand-wheel and the cam-shaft, and no liability of any of the parts between the handwheel and cam-shaft to slip; hence, whenever the operator turns the hand-wheel in one direction or the other he knows to a eertainty that there has been a corresponding operation of the cam shaft and a desired change in the position of the rolls. Not only, therefore, does the present arrangement render the machine certain in its action,whereas it was before more or less uncertain, but it also simplifies the construction of the machine, as it dispenses with the second vertical shaft, the cone-drums, and the connectingbelt.

It is customary to mount the machine directly in front of the furnace in which the bars are being heated, so that on issuing from the furnace the bars may be passed directly between the rolls; but it is advisable to move the machine away from the front of the furnace when it is desired to use the latter lfor other purposes. For this reason I make the drivingshaft with a detachable section, F', between that section to which power is applied and that section which is geared to the machine,

so that on removing this intermediate section boxes, with an arm projecting laterally from the shaft of one roll, and a driving-wheel having longitudinally-projecting fingers for engaging with said arm, and a central opening of larger diameter than the shaft, whereby the swinging' of the latter on its pivots is permitted, all substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a pair of bevelwheels having shafts adapted to pivoted boxes, an arm proj eeting from the shaft of one roll, a driving-wheel having projecting fingers engaging with said arm, and a sleeve serving as a bearing for said wheel and having a vertical slot for the passage of the shaft, all substantially as specified.

rlhe combination of the two pairs of beveled rolls and the pivoted shafts carrying the same, a shaft having cams, and connectingrods whereby said cams are caused to act on the roll-shafts, a counter-shaft, worm-gearing whereby the counter-shaft is caused to operate the cam-shaft, and a hand-wheel whereby said counter-shaft may be directly operated, all substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subseribin g witnesses.

IOO 

